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| Grindel Point Light, Islesboro |
Scenic lighthouses, seals, porpoises, beautiful boats, great sailing…is this getting old yet? Because it sure isn’t for us.
The day we decided to leave Cradle Cove started out free of fog and damp and clear, a warm sunny day in the making. Without a whisper of wind on the water. After making a quick patched repair on the loudhailer we set out. We’d not decided to go to Belfast or Castine until about the time we left. There are some differences between the towns; I can tell you about the paper differences (Belfast is supposed to be larger with more there and not as easy to anchor) but can’t directly compare because we didn’t end up in Belfast.
Castine doesn’t have a great spot to anchor close to town so we decided that nearby Smith Cove looked perfect. Deep enough for us us but not too deep, muddy bottom for anchoring, remote from town but reachable (about a mile and a quarter by dinghy). The comments about it are that it is peaceful and not crowded, and right near the Holbrook Island Sanctuary, a nature preserve with some nice walking trails. Perfect!
There were porpoises swimming by us as we were setting our anchor, and ospreys all around. The cove is a wide open with some islands and sand beaches to explore (which the children did) and town was about 6 minutes away at fast dinghy speeds. Holbrook Park get’s it’s own post but that was a worthwhile trip. While we were there two windjammers came in and spent the night at anchor with us, and for a day we thought we were anchored near Eric Clapton – the Internet was wrong about his boat, if you can imagine that.
Castine itself was a little less than we’d expected. It’s a quaint little waterfront town with some lovely old buildings and B & B’s. There are a couple of restaurants and a convenience/liquor store. Not the place to provision like we’d hoped but not lacking in New England charm. It does have some basic services for the boat and you can get milk, eggs, beer and other staples but you aren’t going to be able to disappear off the grid for a week on what you can get there. Hindsight being 20/20 Belfast would have been the better stop for the larder, but you can not beat waking up to Porpoises so close to the boat you can practically pet them.
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| Morning at Smith Harbor, near Castine Maine |
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| Same morning, just a little later… |
